Petswap

Contents

Host

Broadcast

The Foundation for ITV, 21 March to 27 April 2001

Synopsis

Swapping is a constant theme for us here, to the point where it's getting boring. After all, we've had Swapheads, Don't Call Me Stupid, and that game on The Saturday Show where something very (almost illegally) similar happened.

But this attempt was just um... different.

The problem with reviewing kids shows is that you want to apply every constraint that you would to an adult show, but then again you're talking about a show watched with an average mental age of about eight. Dick and Dom in Da Bungalow, for instance, or possibly Celebrity Love Island.

This, however, was er... unique.

It's probably best that I explain the plot. Two pairs of kids swap places with their pets for a day. Unfortunately, we don't get to see Fido attempting little Johnny's algebra homework, we get the much less interesting viewing of four kids dressed as pets. Yes, really. They also have to endure Dave Benson Phillips trying not to laugh at them.

These pets/kids/suckers then had to play various animal-themed games (inflatable, with a bit of gunge, as is the fashion), in an attempt to win cuddly toys, while Dave Benson Phillips tries not to laugh.

In the final round, the contestants must run through an obstacle curse (note the recycled joke, rather like the recycled end game), collecting the toys they failed to win, and then get into a boat on an oh-so-deep lake and place the toys on the relevant spots to win. While Dave Benson Phillips... oh, you get the picture.

Cute, but most definitely not cuddly.

Key moments

Dave Benson Phillips wading in the foot-deep pond at the end of the final.